A 22-year-old Peninsula woman stricken with leukemia faces long odds of survival if she is unable to find a bone-marrow donor of Latino heritage who matches her genetic markers within the next 39 days.

Camila de la Llata, a 2008 Santa Catalina High graduate, was about to enter her senior year at CSU Fullerton when she was diagnosed in August with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Because her body contains a rare SLT-3 chromosomal marker, the disease cannot be kept in remission without a bone-marrow transplant.

De la Llata's situation is further complicated because she is of mixed race — Latino and Caucasian — which greatly limits her chances of finding a suitable match. Only 4 percent of the 10 million people in the National Marrow Donor Program are of mixed race, and about 10 percent are Latino, according to data provided by Be A Match.

Among candidates currently registered in the national donor database, only two were found to be compatible with Camila, matching nine out of 10 genetic markers. Neither of those potential donors can be located because they failed to update their information with the registry.

Ideal donors are 18-44 years old, and anyone choosing to register needs only to provide a cotton swab from the inside of the mouth for testing. The vast majority of all people who register as a potential marrow donor will never be called upon to donate.

"So many patients are lost throughout the world because we can't locate that one donor who could match them and save their lives," said Trina Brajkovich, an account executive and recruiter for Be A Match in the Northwest Region. "If we're unable to find a match for Camila by November, her family is going to have to try (alternative treatments) that haven't been nearly as effective" as bone-marrow transplant.

De la Llata performed in numerous productions at the Pacific Repertory Theater, the Forest Theater, Monterey Peninsula College, and other local stages.

Her mother, Robin de la Llata-Aime, has taught English, writing and literature at Santa Catalina for 21 years, and her father, Gabriel de la Llata, has been an educator for 16 years at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where he runs the Discovery Lab.

"My mother and father were from Oklahoma, and my blood is German, Dutch, Native American and probably other things, too," said her mother. "Her father is from Mexico City, and his parents were from Spain and Acapulco.

"Her father and I only match five of the 10 DNA markers, and Camila has no siblings, so we need to find a biracial stranger who is willing to be become a donor, which is extremely difficult."

The symptoms of her illness appeared suddenly, without much warning, after Camila bruised her tailbone in a fall while rehearsing in a kick line during a local production of "Cabaret" in July.

When an abscess developed, she went to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for treatment and tests, where doctors found her white blood-cell count to be normal.

"She performed in 'Cabaret' without incident, but was sick the entire time, which was unusual since she also was on antibiotics to treat the abscess," her mother said. "After the show closed, she discovered a pimple-like thing in her armpit that turned out to be another abscess."

A second blood-panel test near the end of August revealed that her white blood-cell count suddenly was "off the charts," Robin de la Llata-Aime said. At that point, doctors diagnosed the leukemia and sent her to Stanford Medical Center, where she remains today.

"She's actually feeling very good — they've become very good at controlling the nausea and pain that comes with chemotherapy," her mother said. "But that doesn't mean she doesn't get infections, because the chemotherapy wipes out the immune system. Right now she has sores in her mouth and throat, and fever."

De la Llata-Aime described her daughter's current condition as "serious."

An expedited effort is under way to locate a suitable donor through organizations such as the Be The Match Registry.

"Registration is simple: People who register are given a packet with a special Q-tip and are asked to swab their inner cheek (mouth)," Gabriel de la Llata explained in a newsletter to fellow employees at the aquarium. "You mail the packet back to the registry as soon as possible. The actual donor will donate blood or bone marrow which will be drawn at their local hospital."